Last year the UK was given a warning by Fitch when the credit rating outlook was changed to negative

Economists have predicted that the UK will lose its coveted AAA credit rating this year. See how different credit ratings agencies rate countries worldwide • Get the data • US debt ceiling santa cruz vacation rentals analysed • Who owns America's debt?
Many economists predict santa cruz vacation rentals at least one of the three main credit ratings agencies – Moody's, Fitch or Standard Poor's santa cruz vacation rentals – will declare the UK a bigger lending risk in response to the chancellor's admission in the autumn statement that austerity will run for at least eight years, until 2018, rather than the original five.
Last year the UK was given a warning by Fitch when the credit rating outlook was changed to negative , becoming the second ratings agency to put the treasured AAA rating at risk after Moody's made the same move. This signalled a "slightly greater santa cruz vacation rentals than 50% chance" that Britain would lose its AAA rating with Fitch in the next two years.
santa cruz vacation rentals Last October, Standard and Poors (S P) downgraded Spain's sovereign ratings to BBB-, just one grade above junk status santa cruz vacation rentals . S P attached a "negative outlook" to its rating, a warning of another possible downgrade in the medium term.
Just days earlier Moody's cut its assessment of Cyprus's government bonds, downgrading them by one notch from Ba3 to B3. The ratings agency cited fragile and weakening banks as the main factor in its decision, stating:
santa cruz vacation rentals In order to maintain appropriate domestic bank capital levels, the Cypriot government will likely need to provide financial santa cruz vacation rentals support to the country's banks that could threaten the sustainability of the government's debt burden
So, who are the ratings agencies? The big three agencies are Fitch , Moody's and Standard Poors . What they do is assess how likely a borrower is to be able to repay its debts and help those trading debt contracts in the secondary market.
santa cruz vacation rentals That means for those trading debt contracts such as Treasury gilts after they have been issued, ratings agencies help assess a fair price to charge. Ratings agencies have been criticised for having too much clout in jittery markets during the financial crisis. They were widely attacked for failing to warn of the risks posed by certain securities, in particular mortgage-backed securities.
Thanks to the three big agencies, we can bring you the ratings of countries around the world as of today. Because each agency's approach is slightly different, we have colour-coded them in three broad categories too. All the ratings have been updated today. Ratings for previous updates last year and in 2011 are in the spreadsheet, so you can see how ratings have changed over time.